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Shaun McKenna

Shaun McKenna has worked as an editor at The Japan Times since 2007. He currently helms the Music and Events sections at the newspaper. When he isn't attending concerts in Tokyo, he is often on the hunt for "the perfect iced tea."

For Shaun McKenna's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Among the English-speaking community in Japan there has been a long-running debate over whether to use the word "foreigner." Personally, I prefer using "non-Japanese." The word "foreigner," I feel, implies difference, exclusion and an inability to assimilate.
Having said that, Bryan Jenkins is a foreigner. ...

A namigai (geoduck pronounced gooey-duck) is not a pretty creature. Native to North America's west coast, it looks like a beige slug that has outgrown a clam shell. Hidekazu Tojo is about to convince an audience to eat it.
The Kagoshima-born chef is leading a ...

Riding the shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima, I am glued to my iPhone when Stephen Gill tells me to look outside the window. The countryside — rolling hills and rice paddies — is shrouded in mist. Perhaps inspired by the scene, he begins reciting ...

Last week, the sixth season of "Game of Thrones" premiered to record ratings in the United States. When factoring in all the ways people watch it — live as it airs and streamed later — the episode titled "The Red Woman" brought in 10.7 ...

Uh-oh! What have the young women of Kamen Joshi gotten themselves into?
On Sunday the idol group, whose name in English means Masked Girls and which is made up of 18 members in three separate teams, released a video titled "Kamen Joshi: Idol Magic for ...

When I was first listening to Crystal's "Typhoon," I was, coincidentally, also watching radar visuals of Super Typhoon Atsani's approach to Japan — and they matched the music perfectly.
This is less because of the storm Crystal whips up on the track — "Typhoon" sounds ...

While Japan's train system is universally lauded as punctual and convenient, there's always that one person on the daily commute that ticks you off.
How many times have you stood on a crowded train with elbows jabbing into your back or a drunk businessman falling ...

Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) announced a series of performances Monday that will take place during a month of activities this fall.
Among the many established artists taking part in the monthlong electronic music event are Ryoji Ikeda, who will bring his world-renowned test pattern ...

Sixty musicians have been chosen to take part in this year's Red Bull Music Academy, with Japanese artists taking three of the available spots.
Sapphire Slows, Haioka and Albino Sound will take part in the monthlong electronic music event, which will be held this autumn ...